The present invention relates to a sound activated mobile.
Previously, mobiles, and particular mobiles used a crib toys, were manually actuated and therefore required the presence of another person to start them, etc. For example, in the case of the spinning crib toy disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,060,628, wherein a pull on a cord rotates a drum while energy is stored in a helical spring which then causes rotation of the drum in the opposite direction.
Other toys of this type were motorized but required the presence and help of another person to actuate a mechanical switch. The motorized mobile would continue to rotate until the switch was manually turned off. Such a device is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,919,795.
Still another type of mobile was known in which the motion of the mobile was controlled by changes in ambient temperature. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,811,990 discloses a thermally activated mobile.
None of the known devices were in any way controllable by the baby for whose pleasure they were designed. Indeed, each of these devices required the attention of another person or were controlled by conditions, such as temperature, that were not under the direct control of any person. The known devices could not, therefore, provide the additional educational experience made possible by the apparatus according to the present invention.